Pandora to Buy Live Events Company Ticketfly for $450 Million

Deal Moves Pandora Beyond Its Radio Roots

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Pandora Media agreed to acquire online ticketing business Ticketfly Iin a deal valued at about $450 million, thrusting Pandora into competition with Live Nation Entertainment's Ticketmaster, the industry leader.

The transaction includes about $225 million in cash and 11.6 million of Pandora's common shares, the internet radio service, said Wednesday in a regulatory filing.

Ticketfly provides ticketing and marketing software for about 1,200 venues and event promoters across North America. It generated more than $500 million in transaction volume last year, selling 16 million tickets to more than 90,000 live events including Burning Man and the Pitchfork Music Festival, Pandora said in a statement. The deal will take Pandora beyond its radio roots, bringing together its 80 million monthly users and the 14 million who visit Ticketfly during an average month.

"This is a game-changer for Pandora," Brian McAndrews, the Oakland, Calif.-based company's chief executive officer, said in the statement.